Vern Bickford started his baseball career in 1939 at the age of 18. He spent four seasons, 1939 through 1942, pitching with the Mountain States LeagueWelch Miners. His tour in Welch gave him 49 wins and 39 losses with a 3.87 ERA. He led the league in 1940 with 163 strikeouts.

The United States Military called for his services and he served in the Army, in the Pacific theater of war, from 1943 through 1945.

Vern reached the major leagues with the Braves in 1948 and helped them nail down the 1948 National League pennant. The famous cliche about "Spahn, Sain and two days of rain", did not do justice to Bickford's strong 11-5 record. He lost to the Cleveland Indians in his only World Series game.

The high point of Bickford's career was his no-hit, no-run game against the Brooklyn Dodgers on August 11, 1950. The Braves won, 7-0. He struck out Duke Snider for the final out with what he described as "the prettiest curve ball I ever threw." That season, he pitched 312 innings, more than any other National League pitcher and won 19 games. Six times he tried and six times he failed to win his twentieth. Bickford called this "the biggest disappointment of his career."

With the Braves, he spent six seasons establishing himself as a class act and a very capable man on the mound. He had a 66-57 won-loss record with a 3.71 ERA with the team.